Game apparatus



c. w. HAMEL. GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22| |919.

Patented my 3, 1921.

C. W. HAMEL GAME APPARATUS.

APPL'ICATIONFILED MAY 22, 1919.

Patented May 3,7'1921.

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UNiTED STATES..

4v*Pa'iliN'r orriea.,

CHARLES W. HAMEL, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

GAME APPARATUS.

Application filed May 22, 1919.

My invention relates to a game appara-y tus, my present invention being an improvement upon thel game apparatus disclosed in Fatent No. 1,252,691, issued to me January s, isis.

The principal objects of my present invention are to generally improve upon and simplify the construction of the apparatus.

disclosed in. my patent aforesaid,and to particularly simplify the construction of the mechanism for bringing into view the,

distinctively marked objects which control the pla-ys of baseball orother gaines.

Further objects of my invention are, to

provide a relatively simple, compact and,

easily operated receptacle forv the 'distinctively marked play-directingobjects; further, to provide simple and eflicient means :for locking the container after the same has been actuated to bring the kplay-directing objects into View; and further, to provide improved means for indicating upon a ,board which 'bears the representation of a playingl iieldfthe positions and movements of the players or markers which represent the players.A

lVith the view, my invention consists incertain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and villustrated in the accom` panying drawings, in .Which- Figure 1 is a front elevational view of v ,that portion of my .improved apparatusk which contains the distinctively marked objects with a portion lof said container and its housing in vertical section.

Fig. 2 is a cross section taken approximately on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the means` utilized for rotating the vdistinctively marked object container and the means fory locking the saine after partial rotation;l

l Fig. 4L is a plan view of the playing board Specification of Letters Patent.

foregoing and other objects inv Patented May 3, 1921. serial No. 298,957. I

the pins projecting upwardly therefrom.

F ig. 8 is a perspective view of aniodified form of one of the markers or play-indicators.

Fig. 9 is an elevational view of a modified forinof my improved game apparatus. Fig. 10 is a side elevational'view of the vmodified construction with parts broken away.A

Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken approxi-- mately on the line 11g-l1 of Fig. 9. Y

Referring by ynumerals to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a practical embodiment of my invention, 1.0 Vdesignates a housing which is ,a substantially rectangular box-like structure and formed" in the front wall thereof 'is' an opening l1.` This housing is supported by legs 12'which project downwardly from the side walls of the housing and projecting inwardly yfrom said legs are flangesl, the same Vserving as a support for the board or Vbase 14 which bears the representation of a playing 'field and upon w ich are positioned'the marks or objects representing the players. engaged in the game.

ries of vertically disposed partitions v`17` which divide the space withinsaid housing into a plurality of relatively narrow chambers 18. rFhis housing 16 may be of any desired shape in c'rosssection,'eitherpround or square, andarranged on the exteriorv thereof and spaced at equal distances apart are ,auxiliary housings 19 of transparent material such as glass or Celluloid4 and ar- 4 rangedfwithin each auxiliary housing is a series of partitions 20,-the same being arranged in alineinent withthe partitions 17 in housing 16. Y

Formed through the wall of housing 16 y are apertures 21, the same serving to estabthe requirements of different games played j with the apparatus.

One end of the shaft 15 projects a short distance beyond the adjacent end wall of the housing and iixed on said projecting end is a dislr 23 in the periphery of which is ,tormed a series of radially disposed rey cesses Fixed on the projecting end of the shaft adjacent this disk 23 iis a hub 25 from which kprojects a series of radially, disposed arms 26, the latter performing the Y'functions of a hand wheel for imparting rotary motion tothe shaft 15 and parts carried thereby. A vertically disposed plate' 27 is arranged between the hub 25 and disk 23, said plate being provided with a slot 28 for the accommodation of the projecting Y portion of' shaft 15 and the upper portion posed the corresponding set of Vpockets 22 are po of said plate being provided with a slot 29 i through which passes a pin or screw 30 that is seated in the adjacent end wall ot the housing 10.v f V Carried by the plate 27. and arranged on the inner face thereof is a vertically disj adapte to enter the recesses 2% in disk 23. rIhe relative angular Vpositions .of the vrecesses 24 with respect to each other is the same as the relative angular positions of j that the succeeding portion of the play will the pockets 1 22andA thusV when the :pin 30 Vis seated in one of Vthe pockets in dislr 23, the shaft 15 and parts carried thereby are Vlocked against rotary movement and one of the transparentauxiliary housings 19 and sitioned directly opposite the opening 11 in the frontwall of housing 10. y,

Arranged in each chamber 18 is a series of play directi-ngobjects, preferably balls,

of such size as to pass freely through the apertures 21 and occupy the pockets 22 and the set of objects in each chamber are distinctively marked with respect to the sets in all the other chambers and in some instances, the different balls ot each individual set are distinctively marked with respect to each other. These differential markings may take the 'form of numbers, letters, symbols, or colors and in some chambers, two or more of the objects may be similarly marked or colored, this arrangement'of marking dependingupon the game played with the apparatus.` Y

- In playing baseball withV iny improved in 31, the lower end ot which isv of the pockets ot the first chamber or chamber No. 1, the particular marking of the object in sight in the pocket of chamber No. 1 will indicate that the results of the lirsty play or action of the play will be found by referring to another'one'ot1 the objects 'displayed in an adjacent pocket.

rlhus an object appearing in the pocket ot compartment No. 1 may indicate the beginning of a play andthat the succeeding part ofl said play may be ascertained by consulting the object contained in the eX posed pocket of chamber No. l and upon noting vthe latter, the second step or part of the play is ascertained and the exposed object will indicate reference to an objectA in another one of the pockets for the succeeding part or action of the play. l Y

In playing baseball, chamber No. 1 may be termed the pitchers box and it will contain Va number ot objects such as balls, certain ot which indicate strikes, Vothers indicating balls and others indicating ret-V erence to another container tor the succeeding portion of aiplay.

Chamber No. 2 which may be t'ermedthe vfair hit boxwill contain a number ot number of bases to be taken `by the batsman making a hit, and others to indicate lbe found in another one of the boxes. j

Chamber No. 3 may be termed the inlield hit boX7 and will contain objects indicating certain actions on the part of the players and VVcertain other objects to indicate that the sucrunner box and the objects contained therein'are for indicating the actions of base runners or the players which have reached the bases and are endeavoring to move from one base to the other.

Chamber No. 6 may be termed the battery A signal play box and the objects'contained .therein are for indicating signals between the batteries or between the pitchers and catchers of the contesting teams. l v

`Chamber No. 7 is the signal boX for one team andchamber No. 8 is the signal box Y between the players of the contesting teams.

Chamber No. 9 may be termed the error box and the objects contained therein are for the purpose of indicating errorsinade by the players Vof the game.

Chamber No. 10 may be termed the umpires box and the objects contained therein are divided into two different sets, oneset indicating that the play is safe and the other set indicating that the play is lost Or Outf7 The board 14 .on which the playing pieces representing the players ofthe game are manipulated, is formed of sheet metal, wood, or heavy cardboard, and appearing on the face of said board is the representation of a baseball field including the diamond formed by the base lines. Projecting upwardly from the board are two rows of pins 33, there being nine pins in each row, and appearing on the board adjacent one row 1s the legend AIns and adjacent to the other row appears the legend Outs These pins are adapted to receive the marks or playing pieces which represent the players of the contesting teams. These playing pieces are preferably in the form of disks 34, as illustrated in Fig. 5, each disk being provided with a centrally arranged aperture 35 which receives one of the pins when the disk is positioned thereupon.

The disks of each set are distinctively marked or colored so as to designate or represent the different players of each team.

In order to maintain the playing pieces 4 34 at an elevation u on the pins 33, blocks disks and shift theL same from one pin to another.

Projecting upwardly from the board 1'4 is a series of three pins 37 adjacent to which appears the legend Out, these pins being adapted to receive markers or playing pieces which represent the outs made by the team at bat. These last mentioned markers (one of which is illustrated in Fig. 8) are preferably square and distinctively marked with respect to each other.

Projecting upwardly series of three pins 38 adjacent to which appears the legend Strikes, said pins being adapted to receive marks to indicate the number of strikes made by the player at bat. Adjacent'to these pins is a series of four pins 39, the same being marked with thev legend Balls and said pins being adaptfrom board 14 is a ed to receive` markers to designate the numbers of balls pitched to theplayer at bat.

Projecting upwardly from the board 14 is tains one ofthe play indicating objects, al

set of which latter are contained in each of the chambers 18.

To vrotate housing 16, one of the persons manipulating the apparatus presses upwardly on the lower end of plate 27, thereby. elevating the same and withdrawing pin 31 from the recess 24 in which it has been seated. fected, the handles 26 are engaged and turned so as to rotate housing 16 approximately one quarter of a turn, the direction of. rotation being from the front toward the rear.

Each series or set of play directing objects occupies the lower'portion of the corresponding chamber 18 and one of said objects will by gravity drop through the lowermostV aperture 21 and occupy the correspondingV pocket 22. Thus as the container 16 is rotated approximately a quarter of a turn, the play directing objects located in the lowermost series of pockets will be brought into position directly opposite the sight opening 11 while the remaining objects will roll through the lower portions of the chambers 18 and remain in the bottoms thereof.

When this movement has been ef" Y a row of pins 40 adjacent to which appears ,l

the legend Runs and said pins being adapt- Prior to thus rotating the container 16 and bringing into view a row of play directing objects in the pockets 22, the disk 34 representing the first container of the team,

at bat, is removed from its peg or pin 33 and placed on the pin 32 at thehome plate. persons lplaying the game now refer to the play directing object appearing in the pocket of chamber No. 1 and this object will indicate lthat the rst ball vpitched to the batter is either a balL a strike or that some other play directing object be noted vto show The batter hits afly ball, then reference isv made objects, 1 prefer to differentially color said opposing players and likewise Whether or not an error is made by the player attempt- Y. ing to catch the ball.

If the play shows that the first batter makes a fair hit, entitling him to one base, then the disk positioned lon the home plate pinis transferred to the first base pin and the disk indicating the second batter is'posi u tioned on the home plate pin, afteravhich housing 16 is partially rotated to bring the number of balls delivered by the pitchery to the batter, and the number of runs scored by the team at bat during each inning.

By utilizing properly marked play directing objects in the rotating container 16, various games other than baseball, for instance, golf, tennis, and football, can be played with my improved apparatus, and to play these various games, it is, ofcourse,

necessary to provide the representation of the playing fields corresponding to the games being'played or the games in Which the plays are directed bymy improved apparatus'.

j Ilnsteadof numbering the chambers'vvhich contain the various sets of play directing chambers and to correspondingly color the play directing objects located in said chambers. For instance, one chamber might be colored red andthe play directing objects in said chambers would be provided With red markings, certain objects being entirely red, others of this set of objects being marked with one, tvvo orY threered stripes, and another set of the objects being marked with red dots. This same scheme of marking would bc carried out through all the'cham- Vbers in the play directing objects and with thek chambers and objects so distinguished,

it is a comparatively easy matter to quickly direct a sequence of plays' and the persons playing thev game will readily become familiar with the different colors thereby greatly facilitating the play and increasing the interest therein.

In the modified construction illustrated in Figs. 9 to 11 inclusive, a housing41 is provided in its front Wall with arhorizontally disposed slot 42 Which serves as a sight opening and journaled in the end Walls of said housing is a shaft 43. VLoosely mounted on vthis shaft and arranged Within the housing -is a series of independently operating Wheels 44 provided With fiat rims 45 on ivhich appear Words or data indicating the various I the latter being pivotally mounted on an arm 48 and which latter is fixed to shaft `43. One end of shaft 43 projects beyond the housing 41 and fixed to said projecting end is a disk 49-provided with a shoulder 50. Projecting from this disk 49is a finger` 51 to which is connected one end of a retractile spring 52, the other end being secured to housing 41. Finger 51 normally. rests upon a pin 53 =vhich projects from housing 41. Loosely mounted on the projecting endof shaft 43 is a crank handle 54 and carried thereby is a spring-pressed paWl 55 provided With a hook on its forward end andV which latter is adapted to engage shoulder 50. The rear end of this pawl is curved and is adapted to make contact with a pin 55, the same seated in and projecting from the end Wall of housing 41. I I

To actuate this form of apparatus, handle 54 is shifted into position so that Ythe hooked end of pavvl 55 engages shoulder 50 ,after Whichthe handle is pulled forwardly and downwardly', thereby partially rotating disk.y 49, ivhich action stores power in spring 52. llihen the handle has beenshifted approximately a quarter of a turn, the curved end of vpavvl 55 bears against pin 53 so that the hooked end of said pavvl is disengaged fromA i shoulder 43, whereupon spring 52 Will act to return disk 49 and shaft 43 to their normal positions, such movement being practically instantaneous and the partial rotary movement of shaft 43 will be transmitted to the Wheels 44 by the engagement of pawls 47 With the ratchet Wheels 46 carried by said Wheels 44. y

T he sudden movement thus imparted to Wheels 44 produces ymomentum which causes said Wheels to make three or four complete revolutions and When they have ceased rotating, the operator notes thefwords or playing directions appearing through the sight opening 42 and correspondingly moves the `markers or playing members upon the board. Y

, Thus the modified construction which includes the Wheels having the play directing Words upon their rims take the place of the play directing objects which are loosely arranged in the compartments or chambers 10 and by noting the playing directions on the successive wheels, a sequence of plays can be readily made.

A game apparatus of my improved construction is comparatively simple, can be easily manipulated, and provides an interesting and entertaining pastime for the reason that it is possible to reproduce all the usual and unusual plays that are madeby players in a regular outdoor game and at the same time it is impossible to force or determine the sequence of plays and the ultimate result of the game.

It will be readily understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved game apparatus can be made and substituted for those herein showvn and described, Without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a game apparatus, a housing provided With a sight opening, a container mounted for rotary movement in said housing, said container being divided into a plurality of chambers, a series of distinctively marked play directing objects loosely arranged in each chamber, auxiliary housings arranged on the container so as to provide a series of object receiving pockets, portions of which-pockets are transparent, there being openings in the Wall of the container to permit the passage of objects from each chamber to the pockets therein, and manually manipulative means for imparting rotary movement to said container and locking the same against movement at predetermined points in its rotation.

2. In a game apparatus, a container mounted for rotation, a plurality of play directing objects loosely arranged in said container, said container having an opening in its Wall through which only one of said objects may pass at a time, and a member extending over said opening and forming a pocket in which one of said objects may lodge and be lifted away from the other o said objects for purposes of display and inspection.

3. In a game apparatus, a housing provided With a sight opening, a container mounted for rotation in said housing, a series of distinctively marked play directing objects loosely arranged in said container, there being an opening in the Wall of said container, a member applied to said eontainer over said opening to form an object receiving pocket, manually manipulative means for imparting rotary movement to said container, and manually manipulative means for locking the rotatably mounted container in position with the object receiving pocket directly opposite to the sight opening in the housing.

4;. In a game apparatus, a rotatably mounted housin divided into a series of compartments, W ich compartments are distinctively marked With respect to each other,

a set of play directing objects loosely arranged in each compartment, the members of each set of objects being distinctively marked with .respect to each other, and the distinctive marking on said objects bearing relation to the marking of the compartment in which they are located. y

5. In a game. apparatus, a rotatably mounted housing divided into a series of compartments, the same being distinctively marked with respect to each other, a set of pla-y directing. objects loosely arranged in each compartment, the members of each set of objects being distinctively marked With respect to each other, and the markingon said objects bearing relation to the marking of the compartment in Which they are located and each compartment being provided with a pocket adapted to receive one of the play directingobjects, and a portion of the Wall of said pocket being transparent in .order to display the play directing object positioned in said pocket.

6. In a game apparatus, a rotatably mounted housing divided into a series of compartments, the same being distinctively marked with respect to each other, a set of play directing objects loosely arranged in each compartment, the members of each set ot objects being distinctively marked With respect to each other, and the marking on said objects bearing relation to themarking of the compartments in Wihich they are located and each compartment being provided With a pocket adapted to receive one of the play directing objects, a portion of vthe Wall of said pocket being transparent in order to display the play direting object positioned in said pocket, and manually manipulative means for imparting rotary movement to the housing.

7. In a game apparatus, a housing provided vvth a sight opening, a container mounted for rotary movement in said housing, said container being divided intov a plurality of chambers, a series of distinctively marked play directing objects loosely arranged in each chamber, auXiliary, .housings arranged on the container so as to provide a series of object receiving pockets, portions of which pockets are transparent, there being openings in thewall of the container to permit the passage of objects from each chamber to the pockets therein, and means for imparting rotary movement to said container and locking the same against movementl at predetermined points in its rotation.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiX my signature this 19th day of May, 1919.

CHARLES W. HAMEL. 

